Question for you people who can

So then I have a bunch of jars but not sure if they are true canning jars or just jars from a supermarket. So how do you tell which is which if not marked with the Ball logo etc.

I do not can in any jar that does not say "mason" on it somewhere, or has the logo of a known mason jar manufacturer. Not saying this is the only way, just how I do it.
Zach

If they don't have anything on them I assume they are an old mayo jar or something. I don't save jars that aren't for canning but I sometimes get a box at a sale.

We prefer to use the heavy duty "mason" jars that are for the purpose. That said, we have had good success with mayo jars and similar. Mom used them a lot. Now days, there are very few jars in the stores with product in them that are suitable for home canning.

If it's a glass jar and the mouth is smooth it should seal as good as a Ball or Mason Jar. We don't can any more but we often used old mayonnaise and pickle jars when we ran out of the Mason jars. But to the original question, any good sure 'nuff canning jar will have a name on it somewhere.

Mom used to can in regular mason/ball jars however she'd do pickles in mayonnaise jars, probably sour kraut too if she did sour kraut.

If it does not say 'Mason", I won't use it. But, we have hundreds of Mason jars.
Richard in NW SC

You should be able to tell by how thick the glass is. Home canning jars are much heavier.

Supermarket jars will seal fine but are more likely to break during processing. Jars that are all scratched up are more prone to breaking too.

When I was younger, half of what we canned was in the plain mayo style jars. They are a little thinner, and once in a while they will break.

Picked up 4 boxes of Mason jars a few years back for free. Just wished they were wide mouth. But I ain't being choosey when they're free.

Rick

Guess I should have added this to the post. Got a bunch of brand new jars from a friend who works at Wal-Mart as a gift. These jars are not marked well as for being for canning but are sold as canning jar so once mixed up with other jars I have hard o know which is which

Rich, If you"re wanting to "mark" those jars for future identification, tie a piece of cotton string at the base of the jar neck. Wife marks suspicious jars that way - they go to the front of the shelf to be used first. That string will stay in place for years, through the dishwasher and everything.

just my two cents! If you are doing things like cold packed pickles, use the unknown jars. If using hot water bath or pressure cooker, use the labled jars. We have on ocasion had labled canning jars break during the canning process.
the pic. shows 2qt mason jars, but we have had great results with 1gal. mayo jars for cold packed "Bar Pickles". Lots of garden dill, onions, and garlic.
Loren, the Acg.

I use the "ring test" to decide if I am going to keep a jar: If a standard jar ring will tighten all the way on the threads of the jar, it will probably work OK for canning. If a ring will not catch properly, the jar goes into the trash.

We try to only use mason jars when we are canning in the pressure canner. I have had a couple of mayonaise jars break while being processed, but usually they do fine, so we do sometimes use them if we run out of mason jars.

We use the non-mason jars for jelly and pickles, and especially anything that we are going to give away. Then the recipients don"t have to worry about getting the jars back to us.

Over the years we have accumulated a lot of jars: most of my Mom"s and my Wife"s parents jars came home with us and we also have got lots from yard sales. I bet that way less than a quarter of our jars have been bought new by us.

We like to can and are set up to do it quite efficiently. We mostly use pints these days, since all our kids have moved out. I am not sure that we save a whole lot of money by canning, but we like the fact that you KNOW what is in the food if you grow it and can it yourself. And some of it just plain tastes better than what you can get in the store. Good luck!

My grand mother was the same way. If it didn't say Mason or Ball on it. It went out the back door to the trash

I much prefer the "marked" jars, they are a lot less likely to break during canning(but not guaranteed). Before use make sure the ring will tighten and does not seat against the "lip" of the jar rather than the end. I have used some of the mayonnaise type jars by using two lids to be sure the lid is sealed by the ring against the open end of the jar.

The canning bottle will be a little thicker and will not have seams running top to bottom.

Rick

I have never seen a true canning jar that wasn't "branded" by having the name cast into the jar, such as "Ball", We have used mayonnaise jars to can tomatoes in since they don't require much pressure, but I don't really like to do that. "Course, you ain't gonna get any more glass mayonnaise jars since they discovered plastic.

i just use what I have,..never had any problems...have only lost 2 jars canning and one of those was a mason

If you check what wal mart sells now days they have no marks or names on them just a few little things at the bottom of the jar and I have been given a few case of them so hard to tell what is what